An Uncomfortable Conversation
by Von-Questenberg
Summary: Oneshot, short and sweet. Ryo talks with a young girl in his apartment building. Postissue 7.


_Hello! My first one-shot! This is just a cute little fluff piece I came up with during Spanish 4 one day. I just had to write it. I know, I know, I should be working on my chapter stories, but… Well, that's next on my list. Deal with it. Enjoy. Ryo has a conversation with a little girl one day. Post Volume 7._

**_An Uncomfortable Conversation_**

Ryo MacLean made his way down the hall to his apartment, tired but looking forward to the evening. Bikky was spending the night at his friend Lai's and Dee was, of course, coming over. Thoughts and images of the evening to come danced through Ryo's head, making him blush and grin at the same time. What better way to spend a cold November evening than curled up with his partner and lover?

Dee and Ryo had been together for about five months now, and in many ways it was better than Ryo could have wished. Dee had stopped trying to force him into sex once Ryo had indicated they would have sex- but on Ryo's terms. The only reason Dee put up with that was because Ryo's terms were very, very lenient; Ryo wanted to have sex almost as much as Dee but simply knew when it was the right time and when it wasn't. When it was the right time, though, Ryo found himself just as swept up in Dee as Dee seemed in him. Ryo had been fairly passive their first few times together, not knowing exactly what to do; however, he had quickly become more assertive and playful- even passionate. By now most everyone who cared about them knew they were finally together, and Ryo had very few problems being open about his relationship with Dee, though he was still not quite as open as Dee.

"Ryooooooo!"

Andrea, the six year-old who lived in the apartment next to Ryo's, came bounding down the hallway to greet him. Over the past month or so, Ryo and Andrea had talked a lot; mainly Andrea would chat about her day at kindergarten and then ask Ryo a few questions about his job as a 'plees-men.' Ryo had introduced her to Dee, of course, and Dee had described her as 'obscenely, disgustingly cute.' Ryo had to admit he hadn't been able to come up with a better description. Ryo smiled as the ball of energy in the form of a girl came hurdling towards him and glomped him, or at least tried to glomp him- such a feat is difficult for a kindergartner. "Hello, Andrea. Did you have a good day?"

"Yeah! Today in school we got to collect the leaves that are on the ground from the trees and glue them to paper and Jenny got glue all over her fingers but I didn't and Luke got glue all over him too- all over his hands and stuff so he had to go the bathroom and wash up and the teacher was mad. And then at recess we all…"

Ryo listened to the little girl go on and on about her experiences at kindergarten as if he were taking a statement for the most important case of his career. Suddenly the door to Andrea's apartment opened and her mother, Laura, stepped out. She laughingly scolded her daughter, "Stop bothering Ryo, you little scamp! I'm sure he's tired."

"Oh no, it's all right. I like listening to Andrea talk about her day, and I think Andrea likes talking to me, don't you?" Ryo winked at Andrea.

"Course I like talking to you! You're fun." Suddenly Andrea turned a little bit more serious. "Can I ask you something, Ryo?" She turned to her mother, uncertain. "Can I, Mommy?"

"I don't see why you can't ask him something as long as he doesn't mind answering, dear," Laura smiled.

"I don't mind answering a question. What is it, Andrea?"

"Mommy says you're gay. Are you?"

Ryo immediately began to blush. Laura paled a bit. "Andrea, you shouldn't ask questions like that. That's very personal." Laura turned to Ryo. "I'm sorry, Ryo. I mentioned it to my husband one night and… well, little pitchers have big ears, I suppose. I'm really, really sorry."

Ryo began to smile a bit again. "It's all right. I'm not exactly trying to keep it a secret, but is it really that obvious?" Laura nodded, chagrined. Ryo turned to Andrea, chagrined himself. "If your mom doesn't mind, I don't mind answering the question."

"Can he, Mommy? Please? I want to know."

"I suppose he can, if he really doesn't mind," Laura looked a little concerned but also a little bit relieved she wouldn't have to explain such a difficult subject to her daughter.

"I don't mind, I really don't." Ryo crouched in front of Andrea, looking her in the eye. "Your mommy's right, I am gay. Do you know what that means, Andrea?"

Andrea's eyes were huge as she shook her head. "Somebody at school said it meant you were a boy who liked other boys. But why does that make you gay? Daddy's a boy but he likes boys, too- he has lots of friends who are boys who come over to watch football a lot. But he isn't gay, is he?"

Ryo grinned a little. "No, your dad's not gay. I'm sure he has many friends who are men that he likes, but 'liking' men isn't what makes me or anyone else gay. Your dad likes those men just as friends." Andrea's eyes were wide and rather confused. Ryo thought for a moment before deciding how to go on. Finally he continued, "Your mommy and daddy met and fell in love, right?"

Andrea nodded seriously. "Yep. They met in college in chem-stry class. Daddy was handsome and Mommy was pretty and they loved each other very much and then they decided to get married and had me," she rattled off a story she obviously knew by heart.

"Right. Well, that's what happens with most people. A man and woman meet and fall in love; then they decide to spend the rest of their lives together, get married, and have children." Andrea nodded again, and Ryo continued. "That's what happens with most people, but not everyone. Some women end up falling in love with other women and some men end up falling in love with other men. That's what it means to be gay."

Andrea's eyes were wide and shocked. "Why does that happen?"

"Nobody really knows why; it just happens. Nobody really knows why a man and woman fall in love with each other, either. It just happens." Ryo looked at the little girl who was obviously trying to understand. "It sounds a little weird, huh?" Andrea nodded. "Well, just because something is unusual- just because something happens less often than something else- does that make that thing bad?"

Andrea looked thoughtful for a moment. "No, I guess it doesn't."

"Well, then, just because it's unusual for a man to fall in love with a man or a woman to fall in love with a woman doesn't mean that it's wrong, does it?" Andrea shook her head. "It also doesn't mean that what those two men or two women feel for each other is any less strong than what a man and woman feel for each other, does it?" Andrea shook her head again.

Suddenly the precocious child looked at Ryo and asked a question. "You and Dee love each other, don't you? He's the man you fell in love with?"

Ryo smiled at the thought of the man he loved with all his heart and soul. "Yes, Dee and I are in love."

"Glad to hear it, Ryo."

Ryo fell back on his rear at the sound of Dee's voice. Trying desperately to control his language in front of the child, he really couldn't find anything to say as he looked up at his partner's laughing eyes. "Dee! You scared me," is all he could trust himself to say as he sat on the floor, all dignity gone.

"That's pretty obvious."

"Ha ha ha." Ryo picked himself up, with a little help from Dee, as Andrea and Lauren both started laughing at Ryo. Ryo stuck out his tongue at the both of them, causing them to laugh even harder. Eventually the four of them were laughing uncontrollably together.

Through the laughter, Laura managed to usher her daughter inside to get in the bath. The three adults stood there in the hallway for a moment before Laura began to speak through the very pregnant pause. "Ryo, I'm really sorry you were put on the spot there. Like I said, one night my husband and I were talking, and my husband… well, he's never been the most observant soul, and he wondered if that woman he'd seen going into your apartment with you earlier that day was your girlfriend."

Dee turned to Ryo, semi-suspiciously. "Woman? Going into your apartment?"

Ryo raised an eyebrow. "Dee, if you'd think, you'd remember that we had Diana over to dinner the other night. Besides, since when do you have to worry about losing me to a woman?" Dee grunted, conceding both points.

Laura continued, grinning slightly. "Well, I was pretty certain of your two's relationship, so I told my husband that since you were gay, I highly doubted it. Andrea must have heard my comment somehow, and been wondering about it. I wish she'd asked me rather than you."

Ryo shrugged. "It's no big deal. The only time it bothers me is when this lummox won't keep his hands off me." Ryo shot an accusing glance at Dee, who shrugged as innocently as possible. "Besides, at least she asked me and you. You'd rather she got a straight answer than some weird version from a kid who doesn't really know, don't you?"

Dee caught on to Ryo's very, very bad pun first and began laughing. It was a second before Laura realized what Ryo had said and joined in laughing. Ryo looked slightly chagrined at how bad his joke really had been.

"Well, I guess I'd better be checking to see if Andrea is actually getting in the shower or not. Nice talking to you, and I am sorry for the question, even if you don't mind," Laura said as she opened the door to her apartment.

"Nice talking to you, too. See you later." Ryo and Dee nodded at her as they turned towards Ryo's apartment.

Dee turned to Ryo. "What exactly happened?"

Ryo smiled a bit sheepishly. "Well, Andrea asked me if I was gay and what that meant."

Dee raised an eyebrow. "A six-year old asked you if you were gay?"

"Yes." Dee started laughing. "What's so funny?"

"Up until a few months ago, you didn't even want to admit to yourself that you were gay. Now you're talking about it to a kindergartner about it because it's so… Well…"

"Obvious?" Ryo finished with a sigh. "It's not that obvious, is it? I mean, I don't exactly shout it out, do?" Ryo was fairly annoyed and trying to hide it.

"It's pretty damn obvious, Ryo. I mean, you aren't exactly flamingly gay, like off 'Queer Eye for the Straight Guy' or anything, but it is fairly obviously. Especially since we're together all the time and all. After all, this is New York City. Gays are hardly uncommon here."

"I should hope I'm nothing like someone off 'Queer Eye for the Straight Guy,'" Ryo huffed, but making sure to smile so Dee knew he was just playing.

"Oh, come on. That show is pretty damn funny, you have to admit."

"Dee, let's just go and have a nice, quiet evening, okay?"

"Quiet?"

"Dee…"

* * *

_Share the love and beef, people! Let out your inner gay man! R&R, onegai._

**Save a Tree-**

**Get Rid of a Bush**

**Vote Kerry/Edwards '04**


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